Director's Message
We have kicked off a new school year and are excited to focus on experiential learning and helping the children grow through hands-on experiences. We have introduced new materials and routines that are helping us get to know each other and work together as a community.
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work of our teachers, who have been diligently learning new systems to ensure great communication with families and create a safe and fun learning environment for the children. Thank you parents for your patience while teachers are learning 1 Core Class. We hope you are enjoying the added connection we have when using this tool.
Program Highlights
Engagement Activities
The last few weeks teachers have been helping everyone get to know each other and how to use our spaces. Children have been learning the colors of the rainbow by playing games and creating works of art. Pine class played games with finding different color counting bears and collaging multi colored paper on elephants. Elm class played games of patterning beads and did collaging with multi colored paper as well. Oak Class made rainbows gluing red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple squares to learn about the order of colors you see in a rainbow. Oak class also practiced their cutting skills by cutting out paper crayons of different colors. We are also learning about community helpers such as doctors, nurses, firefighters and veterinarians.
Professional Development
Before school started teachers spent time arranging their classrooms and training on all the new Happy Hall pieces. The training included experiential learning, 1 Core Family app use, Life Skills, curriculum planning, assessment and portfolios and budgets and ordering. We learned a lot together and practiced new skills. We hope you are feeling the benefits of the changes.
Community Events
Park Day! September 21 from 10:00am-12:00pm. We would like to offer you an opportunity to come and play in our yard and get to know the other Happy Hall Dolores Way families on a Saturday morning. We will have some light snacks and water. Teachers will not be here to supervise the children so please stay with your child and enjoy some playtime! This event is not mandatory but we encourage you to come and make new friends while watching your children play with their friends! RSVP by Sept 17 using the Google Form at go.happyhall.com/DW-parkday-rsvp
Student Achievements
We have introduced a big piece of our social emotional curriculum. We create a culture where children are honored, empowered, feel safe, and enjoy building relationships. We do this by practicing our Life Skills.
Throughout the day, we include activities and daily group discussions that allow students to practice and demonstrate Life Skills. Staff will randomly recognize students for practicing life skills throughout their day. Staff will explain what action and life skill the student demonstrated so they recognize the life skill they have practiced and then they can add a dot to our Life Skills board. Oak has a rainbow, Elm has balloons and Pine has a bubble gum machine. Each of our Life Skills is associated with a color so once their colorful displays are full of dots we will celebrate with a rainbow party. You may start hearing these life skills at home: Caring, Patience, Responsibility, Flexibility, Cooperation and Effort. It is great if you use them as well so that the children become familiar with their meaning.
Reminders
As a reminder, please remember that only staff and students are permitted on the classroom carpets. This helps keep our classrooms clean. However you are always welcome to come into the admin office to speak with the director.
Don’t forget to arrive by 9:05 AM. Circle time starts at 9:10am and we need to have limited interruptions so that we can keep the children focused on the learning happening. We will unlock the doors no later than 9:35.
For birthdays we are still happy to enjoy the traditional pizza party and even a bounce house. However we are hoping to move away from sweet treats like cupcakes. We will be adding a fun birthday crown for them to decorate and wear for the day. Please check in with us when planning for the big day.
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